Nightgown and built in bust support



y 1%? D. M. HOWELL NIGHTGOWN AND BUILT IN BUST SUPPORT Filed April 19, 1965 mm m w r1 m 9 United States Patent 3,316,915 NIGHTGOWN AND BUILT IN BUST SUPPORT Dixie M. Howell, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Kellwood Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 449,033 1 Claim. (Cl. 128-454) My invention relates to sleepwear for females, and has as a particular object provision of a nightgown with builtin bust support for a woman who prefers same for cosmetic reasons or requires such support for comfort while sleeping.

Many doctors have recommended that women sleep in a brassiere in order to provide adequate bust support for comfort and wellbeing.

I am well aware that garments for Women in the nature of slips, gowns and the like have long suggested incorporation of a brassiere as an integral part of the garment. Such garments are open to certain serious disadvantages. For one thing, a brassiere of the usual form is relatively complex and expensive to fabricate, adding substantially to the cost of a garment. Furthermore, an ordinary brassiere is relatively limited as to cup size; accordingly, inasmuch as women wearing a certain size of gown might have breasts varying widely in size, it will be readily seen that gowns incorporating an ordinary brassiere might require that gowns of a certain size be carried with a number of cup sizes, adding greatly to the burden and cost of stock keeping.

A particular object of my invention is to provide a gown having incorporated therein a bodice including a bust-supporting portion of novel construction, permitting a high degree of stretchability, whereby a single gown size may be adaptable to a wide variety of bust sizes.

A further object is to provide a gown construction which is relatively simple and easily fabricated of relatively inexpensive materials, involving a small number of operations and thus capable of being offered to the public at a relatively low price.

Various other objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description proceeds.

Referring now to the drawings forming a part of this specification and illustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention,

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front perspective view of a nightgown embodying my invention,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary rear view of the same, and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section taken substantially alongline 3-3 of FIG. 1.

My improved nightgown comprises a skirt portion having a front panel 14 and a back panel 12 stitched together along side seams 15, 15. Said front and back panels may be cut from any suitable fabric of natural or synthetic fibers of generally non-stretchable character, and may be Woven or knitted, a suitable material being a so-called jersey or tricot knit fabric formed of a synthetic fiber of the character known in the trade as nylon, Dacron, or the like.

The upper portion or bodice of the garment indicated generally by the numeral 20, is connected to the skirt portion by a seam 22 extending across the top of front panel and seam 23 which extends across the top of back panel 12.

Bodice 20 comprises a back panel 25 which is formed of a two-Way stretch fabric; currently, it is preferred to use one known in the trade as a spandex tricot, but could be of other types of elastomers. As is well known to those skilled in this art, the yarn known as spandex is a synthetic stretch fiber that has a high degree of resilience; tricot, of course, is but one standard form of fabric suitable for the garment. Thus, back panel 25 will be highly resilient or stretchable both horizontally and vertically and may be of spandex, tricot or any fabric with a suitable degree of stretch.

It will be noted that panel 25 is so cut as to provide the rear portion of shoulder straps 28, the latter having seams 29, 29 at the top where the rear portion of the shoulder straps 28 are joined to front portions thereof which are integral with parts of the front of bodice 20, namely upper section 30 of cups C. Upper section 30 of each cup is seamed as at 31 to lower cup segment 32. Both cup seg ments 28 and 30 are formed of a two-way stretch fabric, preferably also of a spandex tricot.

Segments 32 are seamed as at 35 to a front midritf section 38 which extends across the front of the bodice between seams 15 and upwardly between cups C. Preferably, said midriff section 38 has more body or stiffness than the front panel 10. For example, it may be formed of a double ply of non-elastic tricot material, woven or knitted, a synthetic silk yarn or the like. Thus, this midriff section has enough body to provide support for the cups, which results in a figure-flattering contour for the garment.

It will be seen that I have provided a nightgown with a bodice susceptible of a high degree of two-dimensional stretchability, thus, being capable of automatically adapting itself not only to figures varying widely in torso girth, but also being capable of Wide but snug adjustment for various bust sizes, to provide firm but yielding support to this part of the figure.

As gowns embodying my invention do not yield themselves to the usual type of lace decoration found in the bodice of standard gowns, I find it desirable (although not required), in fabricating a gown of dressy character, to provide an overlay, not shown, of sheer tricot or other suitable material, which may incorporate therein lace or embroidered decorations Where desired. Such overlay may be stitched to the edges of the shoulder straps 28 as well as to the upper edges of the back areas of the gown proper.

Various changes coming within the spirit of my invention may suggest themselves to those skilled in the art; hence, I do not wish to be limited to the specific embodiments shown and described or uses mentioned, but intend the same to be merely exemplary, the scope of my invention being limited only by the appended claim.

I claim:

In an intimate garment for women having a skirt portion and a bodice,

(a) said bodice having a front portion and a back portion joined by shoulder straps,

(b) said front portion comprising a relatively inelastic midriif section and relatively elastic breast cups,

(c) said back portion and breast cups being stretchable in two directions and being substantially continuous with said shoulder straps, the latter being longitudinally stretchable.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner. 

